How does the cumulative catalogue work?

The cumulative catalogue is arranged in inverse chronological sequence of sale date. For identification and indexing purposes, each manuscript is identified by an alphanumeric code, in which the letters identify the auction house or bookseller, followed by eight digits which designate the year, month, and day of sale, four digits which designate the auction lot number, and four digits which are the MMMR catalogue number of the manuscript), thus:

LS2011070500960004

LS 2011 07 05 0096 0004

London, Sotheby’s; 5 July 2011; Lot 96; MMMR number 0004

Individual entries can be found using the search engine or the archive utility below.